BLAST OF THE SUMMER SHINE
A SIZZLER IS ON THE WAY
BRITS are set to fire up their bank holiday barbecues as the sunshine sizzles at last following a washout few days.
And forecasters reckon the hot weather will continue into September, with temperatures of up to 30C this week.
BRITAIN is set to sizzle into September as the country basks in summer’s last blast.
Autumn will get off to a blistering start, with temperatures set to hit 30C this week.
Families planning bank holiday barbecues today will get a blaze of sun while tens of thousands will hit beaches all round the country after a wet but warm two days.
Forecasters are predicting temperatures in the mid 20s and reckon it is the start of a fresh heatwave. By Friday we will see highs of 28C and experts say it could top 30C.
James Madden, forecaster for Exacta Weather, said: “We expect a warm to hot weather pattern to end the meteorological summer and to begin the meteorological autumn this week. This will bring consistent temperatures in at least the mid 20Cs in parts of the south and 30C or more isn’t out of the question.”
But some forecasters fear that an Atlantic storm could reach Britain by the end of next week, bringing 70mph gusts.
Weather forecasters MeteoGroup said: “Hurricane Gaston is the latest hurricane to develop in the Atlantic and has reached its peak with gusts up to 85 to 90mph.”
But there were a number of tragedies over the holiday period.
Leeds Festival reveller Lewis Haunch, 17, from Leigh, Greater Manchester, died after taking drugs.
Two 17-year-olds were arrested on suspicion of drug offences.
And a man of 26 died at the Creamfields festival in Cheshire.
Cross-Channel swimmer Nick Thomas, 45, died after being pulled from the water just a mile from the French coast.
He had set off from Dover on Saturday morning and had been swimming for around 16 hours when he got into difficulty.
The swimmer, from Ellesmere, Shrops, was taken to a French hospital, where he later died.
In Surrey, a man in his 20s drowned after becoming entangled in underwater reeds while he was swimming at Virginia Water on Friday night. His pals jumped in and attempted to rescue him after he disappeared beneath the surface.
And in Devon, a former serviceman scrambled to help an elderly couple whose car backed into Hooe Lake, Plymouth, during a day out.
Both the driver, 75, and the passenger, who has been named as Barbara, died.
Hero Paul Brain stripped to the waist and swam out to the vehicle.
Paul, who was in the army for 22 years, said: “I couldn’t open any doors and I tried to smash the windows.”
Flip-flops left on the beach at Camber Sands, East Sussex, sparked a missing person alert yesterday with fears of another tragedy after the drowning of five friends there last week.
But a woman was later found safe and well.